Course Descriptions

AFR 101 - Introduction to Africana Studies

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement

AFR 120 - Afro-Latin America (= LAS 120)

From Mexico to Brazil and beyond, Africans and people of African descent have fought in wars of independence, forged mixed race national identities, and contributed politically and culturally to the making of the Americas.  Even though Latin America imported ten times as many slaves as the United States, only recently have scholars begun to highlight the role blacks and other people of African descent played in Latin American history.  This course will explore the experiences of Afro-Latin Americans from slavery to the present, with a particular focus on Haiti, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.  In doing so, the course seeks to answer questions such as: What does it mean to be black in Latin America? Why has racism persisted in Latin America despite political revolutions claiming to eliminate discrimination? What are the links between blacks in Latin America and the United States? How have differing conceptions of “race” and “nation” caused the rise and decline of transnational black alliances between U.S. blacks and Afro-Latin Americans?  All course readings will be in English and will include memoirs, films, and first-hand historical documents in additional to scholarly books and articles.  

Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies

Satisfies a major requirement in Latin American Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Latin American Studies

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity distribution requirement

AFR 230 - History of the Caribbean: Race, Nation, and Politics (= LAS 230, HIS 360)

This course explores the history of the Caribbean from pre-Colombian times to the present. The goal of the class is to trace the emergence of modern Caribbean nations beginning from their status as slave colonies of the not-so-distant past within an emphasis on the central role the Caribbean islands have played in global history.  Particular emphasis is given to the maintenance of European and North American imperial enterprises and the elaboration of racial ideologies growing out of the diversity that has characterized the island populations.  Issues to be addressed include colonialism, piracy, sugar revolution, slavery and emancipation, national independence, tourism, and Caribbean migrations. Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica will be the main areas under consideration, although texts from other islands such as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Martinique are included.

Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies

Satisfies a major requirement in Latin American Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Latin American Studies

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity distribution requirement

AFR 235 - The 1959 Cuban Revolution (= HIS 362 and LAS 235)

This course explores the historical underpinnings of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, U.S.-Cuban relations, and how Cubans have experienced the changes the island has undergone in the past 100 years. Particular attention is given to people of African descent who make up over a one-third of the island’s population. This Cuban narrative illuminates a variety of themes including the spread of U.S. imperialism, Cuba’s fight for sovereignty, and race relations in the Americas.  

Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies

Satisfies a major requirement in Latin American Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Latin American Studies

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement 

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement

AFR 245 - Africana Religions and Healing in the American South

Africana Religions and Healing in the American South invites students to explore vernacular, esoteric, and healing rituals in the study of religion.  Drawing upon the fields of religious studies, history, anthropology, and literature, students will engage Africana religions beyond traditional spaces of sacred texts, doctrines, theologies, and ecclesial sites.  Instead, the course will explore the complex dynamics of “lived religion” where religion is practical, efficacious, and experiential.  Beginning in the context of Southern slavery, the course will expose students to primary and secondary written texts, visual texts, the spiritual technologies of practitioners and specialists, and the material culture that accompanies alternative modes of spiritual healing and religious meaning.  As a supplement to written texts, assignments, and discussions, the class will take a field trip to Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose’s Manuscript and Rare Book Library for a guided tour by Dr. Randall Burkett through their collection of Africana religious artifacts, ritual paraphernalia, and material culture. We will also take a field trip to South Carolina to the Gullah/Geechee Heritage Celebration in November.  This course has no prerequisites for the Africana Studies or Religion major.  A sample syllabus is available for EPC’s review.

Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies

Satisfies a major requirement in Religion

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement

AFR 266 - Africa Shoots Back, in transl. (=FRE 366)

Africa Shoots Back examines West African cinema from its beginnings in the early 1960s to today.  The selection of films exposes students to new voices, perspectives and representations of Francophone West Africa from a West African perspective.  We will discuss issues of decolonization and post-colonial cultural economy, as well as analyze traditional African narrative strategies and new and unconventional images.

Satisfies distribution requirement in Visual and Performing Arts.

AFR 300 - Major Thinkers in Africana Studies: Afro-Cuban Feminisms (=LAS 300)

Black and mulata women have participated in constructing Cubanidad (Cuban nationalism) since the beginning of the Cuban republic in 1902. However, the largely male-dominated national narrative that has made Che Guevara’s “New Man” famous since 1959 frequently overshadows their interventions. Despite this public silence, Afro-Cubanas (Afro-Cuban women) have consistently challenged narratives of exclusion and contributed to antiracist and antisexist movements in Cuba. As theater critic, Inés María Martiatu Terry explained in 2011 one of the goals of the Afrocubanas movement is to “feminize negritude and to blacken feminism.”  

This course will analyze Afro-Cubana feminisms through a close reading of the work of four key black and mulata intellectuals and activists-Sara Gómez, Nancy Morejón, Daisy Rubiera, and Gloria Rolando. In doing so, it seeks to trace the legacy of the many black and mulata women who participated in revolutionary Cuba from the 1960s to the present. In particular, the course will examine how Afro-Cubanas have challenged negative stereotypes about black women, worked both inside and outside of Cuba’s state-sponsored women’s movement, and fought to create space for racial and sexual rights. All course readings will be in English and will include memoirs, films, and first-hand historical documents in additional to scholarly books and articles.

The course can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics.

Satisfies a major requirement in Africana Studies

Satisfies a major requirement in Latin American Studies

Satisfies the Histories and Genealogies major requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies

AFR 320 - Growing up Jim Crow (= EDU 320, SOC 320)

Examines how a generation learned race and racism in the Age of Jim Crow. Through multiple and intersecting lenses, students will examine texts, such as oral histories, literary narratives, and visual representations of various topics.  Topics will include Jim Crow schooling, white supremacy, disenfranchisement, lynching, rape, resistance, interracial harmony, and desegregation.

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.

AFR 371 - Critical Race Theory (=EDU 371, =SOC 371)

This course introduces students to the development of critical race theory as a specific theoretical framework to explain or to investigate how race and racism are organized and operate within the United States.  The course will have a sociological focus with emphasis on critical race scholarship that includes, but is not limited to, an analysis of double consciousness, colorblindness, intersectionality, whiteness as property, racial microaggressions, and structures of power.  Students will also explore central tenets and key writings advanced in the 1990s primarily by African American, Latino/a, and Asian American scholars in law, education, and public policy.  The course is both reading intensive and extensive with a major writing assignment that addresses a theoretical problem that grows out of the course topics and discussions. 

Satisfies a major requirement in Sociology and Africana Studies.
Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

AFR 395 - Seminar in Africana Studies

AFR 495 - Seminar in Africana Studies

ANT 101 - Introductory Cultural Anthropology

Required course for the major in Anthropology.

Satisfies a requirement for the minor in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)

ANT 102 - Humankind Evolving

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.
.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 108 - Introduction to Archaeology

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 205 - Ethnic Relations

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Offered in alternating years.)

ANT 207 - Foragers, Farmers, and Chiefs of the Ancient World

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 208 - Early Cities and States

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 219 - Reproduction and Childrearing: Biology and Culture

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies a distribution requirement in Social-Scientific Thought

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies

Meets the cultural diversity graduation requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017)

ANT 220 - Religion, Society, and Culture

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 227 - Environment and Culture in Latin America

This course addresses human-environment relations in Latin America from the standpoint of environmental history and ethnographic case studies in the region. Issues such as biodiversity, land use and agriculture, transnational flows of natural and food resources, ethnoecology, and social mobilization around environmental issues are examined using theoretical perspectives from cultural and political ecology.  Particular attention is given to the relationship between indigenous peoples and the environment and to alternative models of “development” in Mesoamerica, the Andes, and Brazil.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring; offered alternating years.)

ANT 232 - Contemporary Ghanaian Society and Culture

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Summer 2016; offered in alternating years as part of the Davidson in Ghana summer program.)

ANT 233 - Performing Arts in West Africa

Course in traditional Ghanaian music and dance. Students learn singing, dancing, and drumming at the School of African Rhythm and Dance with a master drummer and several Ghanaian instructors. In addition to the historical and sociocultural perspectives taught by the master drummer, students will visit churches and celebrations that incorporate music and dance. Coursework will include lectures and reading assignments on African performing arts, a reflective and analytical essay, practices, appreciation of performing arts in contemporary sociocultural contexts, and a student performance at the end of the program. This course meets for a minimum of 50-60 semester hours. Graded on a P/F basis.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology with permission.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Co-requisite: ANT 232 Contemporary Ghanaian Society and Culture (Davidson in Ghana Summer Program). (Summer 2016; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 234 - Anthropology of Contemporary Africa

Though ethnographic texts, this course explores the intersections of gender, ethnicity and class in African societies in the 20th and 21st centuries. This course also examines representations of Africa within the nation-state and transnationally. Topics of discussion include tourism, national identity and ethnicity, popular culture, the dichotomies of urban and rural Africa and the cultural politics of development and the state.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Offered in alternating years.)

ANT 251 - Mesoamerican Civilizations

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 253 - Latin American Society and Culture Today

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies one of the introductory course requirements in Latin American Studies.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 257 - African Roots, American Soils

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 261 - Science, Policy, and Society

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 263 - Social Change

This course examines issues in social activism from both a theoretical and ethnographic perspective. How do social activists think about and make social change happen? By examining theories and issues in social justice, from macro-level issues in the international arena to local mobilization for community issues, this course will introduce students to social movement and civil society theory. This course will study social movements, community activism, and the cultural practices of community groups.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017.)

ANT 265 - Contemporary Chinese Society and Culture

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring 2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 267 - Food and Culture

This course introduces the ways in which food practices shape societies and cultures throughout the world. Food ways will be examined from an anthropological perspective for their social and cultural implications; this is not a survey of nutritional or dietetic sciences. Topics to be covered include: the use of food in social contexts, the symbolism of food, and the political economy of food.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 271 - Human Ecology

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 272 - Forensic Anthropology

The application of the techniques used in biological anthropology to the law. Various topics and methodologies related to the identification of human skeletal remains, including the excavation of human remains, estimation of age-at-death and sex, trauma analysis, cause and manner of death, and mass disasters are introduced.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 273 - Bioarchaeology

The study of human and non-human remains from archaeological sites to reconstruct past human behavior and biology, and their environmental and cultural conditions. Topics include human skeletal indicators of diet, activity level, and disease, and faunal skeletal indicators of ancient human behavior, such as hunting and paleoecology.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth (not breadth) course requirement in the Natural Science and Social Science tracks of the Environment Studies major.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 275 - Monkeys, Apes, Humans

Examination of the anatomy and social behavior of living primates. To better understand the human species, we will examine topics such as infanticide, mating systems, intelligence, locomotion, concealed ovulation, menopause, and extensive culture.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 290 - Ethnographic East Asia

This course introduces students to the major themes in the anthropology of China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea. Through studying recent transformations in kinship, political economy, constructions of gender, and national identities, students will also gain a basic grounding in the geography and twentieth-century history of the region as a whole.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

ANT 291 - Digital Anthropology

This course introduces students to the theories and methods necessary for doing research in digital anthropology. Digital anthropology is the study of the impact of information technology on social relationships and human culture. Because of advancements in information and communication technology (as well as globalization), the everyday life of the people and communities that we study are increasingly being shaped by cyberspace, digital media and communication, and online social groups. Throughout the semester, students will conduct fieldwork, communicate, and write commentary on the internet, including social media, websites, and digital media production. Emphasis is placed on developing the critical and methodological skills needed for doing fieldwork virtually, but no previous computer programming is expected or required.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years)

ANT 310 - Politics, Society, and Culture

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 319 - Contradictions in Contemporary Motherhood: Culture, Biomedicine, Political Economy

Contemporary mothering happens at the crossroads of conflicting forces and discourses. This seminar frames motherhood as a window on women’s changing rights and status, and as a fruitful topic for feminist theorizing. Readings will situate the topic in its historical, rhetorical, and cross-cultural contexts and will also explore the globalized networks of migration that increasingly affect motherhood.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

ANT 321 - Borderlands, Identity, and Rights

Samson

Advanced study of how borders and borderland regions shape social, religious, political, and economic relationships in Latin America, and examination of the tensions created when people and resources cross cultural and political borders. Particular emphasis on Mexico and Central America, as well as the Latino experience in the United States.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 323 - Human Rights in Latin America

Anthropological perspectives on human rights agendas in Latin America. Case studies examine the tension between universal and culturally relative conceptions of human rights in relation to issues such as state violence, violence directed toward minorities, and social justice movements.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 325 - Environment, Economy, & Culture

Cultural perspectives on human-environment relations and linkages between the environment and the global economy. Special emphasis on the integration of current knowledge in ecological anthropology, economic production, and the impact of human activity on the environment. Environmental justice issues and proposals for sustainable development are included.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 327 - Religious Pluralism in Twenty-first Century Latin America

The emphasis in this course is on the contemporary religious pluralism that has resulted from the encounter of the Old World with the New. Religious change in Latin America since Vatican II and the advent of liberation theology is examined alongside the burgeoning presence of Protestantism in the region during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Particular attention is given to indigenous and Afro-Latin American traditions. Case studies in the course are selected for their use of ethnographic methods, and the geographic focus centers on the Andean region, Mesoamerica, Brazil, and the Caribbean.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017.)

ANT 335 - Debunking Race

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 340 - Medical Anthropology

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 341 - Globalization

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 343 - Feminist Anthropology

Explores how gender ideologies shape the exercise of power upon men and women in different societies and cultures. Topics include the construction of masculinity and femininity, commodification and consumption of gender, social position, agency, and the political economy of gender. Emphasis on developing an understanding of different theoretical perspectives in the cross-cultural study of gender.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 351 - Anthropology of the Senses

Guided by the premise that the body mediates human understanding about the world, this seminar examines anthropological investigations about the cultural production of the senses (sight, touch, taste, hearing and smell). The readings for the course focus on the diverse ways the senses are organized across cultures and shaped by context, language, identity and society. Students will have an opportunity engage in various sensory related projects through the semester.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

ANT 354 - Art and Writing of the Ancient Maya

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 356 - Art, Myth, and History of Ancient Central Mexico

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Historical Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 357 - Language Before History

This course considers three questions concerning the early history of language: 1) at what stage of human evolution did language appear; 2) what were the reasons behind the spread of the major language families; 3) when and where did literacy first develop and under what circumstances.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 360 - Anthropology of Development and Environmental Sustainability

Issues of development and sustainability from the standpoint of environmental anthropology and anthropological approaches to development theory. Considers the human face of development, including local and global scales of analysis, environmental justice, and discourses of community sustainability.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 370 - Theory in Anthropology

Theoretical and interpretive perspectives in modern cultural anthropology. Issues include functionalism, historical analysis, cultural evolution, ecology, cultural materialism, structuralism, and symbolic analysis. Writings of major thinkers, including Radcliffe-Brown, Harris, Levi-Strauss, Douglas, Geertz, Turner, Godelier, and Sahlins.

One of the courses satisfying the Theory requirement for the major in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
ANT 101 or permission of the instructor. (Fall)

ANT 371 - Ethnographic Writing and Research

Approaches to ethnographic and ethnohistorical research and analysis in cultural anthropology. Examination of selected studies that demonstrate a variety of approaches to the study of single cultures and to cross-cultural comparisons. Students design and complete research projects. With advance departmental approval, an off-campus ethnographic field school course may be substituted for credit toward the major.

One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

Prerequisites & Notes
ANT 101 or permission of the instructor. (Spring)

ANT 372 - Visualizing Anthropology

Introduction to the theories and methods necessary for making ethnographic films. Students will conduct fieldwork and make a documentary film on a particular aspect of social and cultural behavior. Emphasis is placed on developing the critical skills needed for resolving some of the ethical, technical, and aesthetic problems that may emerge during the documentation of social and cultural behavior.

One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 373 - Decolonizing Anthropology

Bowles

This course examines the theoretical and interpretive perspectives of contemporary anthropologists outside of the US and Europe. Disciplinary issues such as the “crises of representation” alongside the decolonization of the Global South will be explored. Writings that explore the tensions between the universal and particular, theory and practice, power and knowledge and the limits of objectivity and subjectivity will also be discussed.

One of the courses satisfying the Theory requirement for the major in Anthropology.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
ANT 101 or permission of the instructor.

ANT 374 - Methods in Forensic Anthropology

This course concerns forensic taphonomy, the study of postmortem and postdepositional processes that occur in human and non-human animals in the medicolegal context. Students will design research projects on the decomposition process in piglets, and learn to collect, analyze, interpret, and present data.

One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered alternating years.)

ANT 375 - Human Osteology

One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 376 - Comparative Skeletal Anatomy and Function

A comparative study of animals in various taxa, including humans, and the reconstruction of diet, locomotion, and evolutionary history from skeletal anatomy. Applications in paleoanthropology, primatology, zoology, and biomechanics.

One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 377 - Imaging the Earth

One of the courses satisfying the Methods requirement for the major and minor in Anthropology.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017; offered in alternating years.)

ANT 380-9 - Seminars in Anthropology

Satisfies a major requirement in Anthropology
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to first-year students.

ANT 382 - Seminars in Anthropology: Renewable Natural Resources: Science & Policy (= BIO 366, ENV 366)

This interdisciplinary seminar course focuses on developing a scientific understanding of renewable natural resources such as fisheries and forests and how resources are then used, overused, managed, and conserved by humans.  The course primarily consider smodern methods of resource management, including adaptive and ecosystem-based management.  The course builds upon knowledge gained in the foundation courses of Anthropology, Biology, or Environmental Studies.  It addresses natural resource and environmental issues from ecosystem and policy perspectives.  Through case studies, readings, class discussions, and knowledge construction, students gain deep knowledge of ecosystem ecology and management policies and approaches.  Students then apply their knowledge to identify management principles that are consistent with a more holistic ecosystem approach and develop a case study of one natural resource and how it is managed.

Satisfies depth or breadth course requirement in Natural or Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor or the breadth requirement of the Humanities track.

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.

Prerequisites & Notes
Successful completion of BIO 112/114, ANT 101, ENV 201, or ENV 202 is required. (Not offered 2016-2017)

ANT 386 - Seminars in Anthropology - Feminist Anthropology

Satisfies a major requirement in Anthropology

Counts in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-2017)

ANT 388 - Stuffology: The Anthropology of Material Culture

Satisfies a major & minor requirement in Anthropology.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

ANT 396 - Independent Research in Anthropology

Satisfies a major requirement in Anthropology
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Two previous courses in anthropology. Limited to sophomores and juniors. (Spring)

ANT 490 - Senior Colloquium in Anthropology

Advanced seminar required of all senior majors, exploring in depth an anthropological issue of critical importance. Students choose a topic related to this issue and prepare seminar presentations and a major research paper.

Required course for the major in Anthropology.

Prerequisites & Notes
Limited to senior majors and minors. (Fall)

ANT 498 - Honors Research

Required for honors but does not count as a course satisfying the anthropology requirements.

Prerequisites & Notes
Departmental permission required. (Fall)

ANT 499 - Honors Thesis

Required for honors and may be counted as one of the upper-level seminar requirements for the anthropology major.

Prerequisites & Notes
Departmental permission required. (Spring)

ARB 101 - Elementary Arabic I (Sections A & B)

ARB 102 - Elementary Arabic II (Sections A & B)

In Elementary Arabic II, a continuation of Elementary Arabic I, we continue to develop the communicative skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students are further introduced to authentic texts from the Arab world. Presentations and group activities encouraging conversation are essential to the course. The course is conducted entirely in Arabic. Attendance at two AT (drill) sessions each week is required.

Prerequisites & Notes
ARB 101 at Davidson or passing placement exam. (Spring)

ARB 201 - Intermediate Arabic I

Intermediate Arabic 201, the fall semester of a year-long intensive intermediate course in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is designed for students who have had one year of Arabic at the college level. Authentic supplementary reading material is introduced, with a focus on popular stories filled with wise sayings known throughout the Arab world. Discussion and presentations are centered on this material, which exposes students to important cultural elements of the Arab world. The course is conducted entirely in Arabic. Attendance at two AT (drill) sessions each week is required.

Prerequisites & Notes
ARB 102 or placement.  (Fall)

ARB 202 - Intermediate Arabic II

Continuation of Intermediate Arabic I. 

Prerequisites & Notes
ARB 201 or placement.  (Spring)

ARB 240 - Accelerated Persian for Arabic Speakers

Accelerated Persian for Arabic Speakers is a one semester course for students who have already completed ARB 101. Because the Persian and Arabic languages share the same alphabet, on the first day of class students will be introduced to the few additional letters present in Persian. By the next class period, we will begin to focus on sentence structure, verb conjugation, and vocabulary building. Elementary Persian books often state that one of the main challenges of Persian is vocabulary building. However, students of Arabic will not find this to be the case. Arabic and Persian share about sixty per cent similar vocabulary and thus our class will progress at a rapid speed due to the Arabic language background that all students will have. It is expected that both languages will complement the other.  Pre-requisite: Arabic 101 (Fall)

Satisfies a major requirement in the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies’ Arab Studies major

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arab Studies

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Middle Eastern Studies

Satisfies an advanced Arabic course requirement.

ARB 250 - Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East

Joubin

The objective of the course is to attain an interdisciplinary approach to the study of gender and sexuality in the Middle East. During the past few decades Middle East Gender studies has expanded rapidly, and this course will introduce students to the milestone monographs that established the field. From a focus on women as a category of analysis, to gender and masculinity studies, the field has expanded rapidly. This course examines gender as a category of analysis and focuses on productions of knowledge of sexual difference in Middle East society. We will examine the implication of modernity on men and women in the Middle East, following scholarship that does not adhere to the tradition versus modernity dichotomy, and we will pay particular attention to studies that examine the ambiguity of modernity. The intersection of nationalist and gendered discourse is among the themes this course will focus on. This course is conducted in English.

Satisfies a major requirement in Center for Interdisciplinary Studies major in Arab Studies and in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Satisfies a minor requirement in Arab Studies and in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Satisfies a distribution requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric.
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in International Studies and in Middle East Studies.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

ARB 251 - Introduction to Arab Studies

The objective of this course is to attain an interdisciplinary approach to Arab Studies. Students will be introduced to key monographs in the field of Arab Studies, and study issues related to Orientalism as well as the more complicated narrative of the native informer. Various artistic forms from past and present will be studied to engage with this phenomenon. We will pay special attention to those works that overcome the troubling paradigm of native informer. By the end of the semester, students will be able to articulate the leading theories in Orientalism and postcolonial theory from an interdisciplinary perspective. (Course will be conducted in English)

Satisfies a major requirement for the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies major in Arab Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arab Studies

Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement

ARB 295 - Studies in Arabic Culture

Arabic 295, a one-semester course in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is designed for students who have had two years of college level Arabic courses or the equivalent. The course, which is conducted entirely in Arabic, enhances the students’ understanding of Arabic culture and grammar through video clips, film, proverbs, television serials, music, and literature. Discussion and presentations are centered on this material. Class meets for one hour, three times per week. Conducted in Arabic.

ARB 321 - Contemporary Arabic Literature

Advanced readings of novels by contemporary Arab authors such as: Ilyas Khouri, Naguib Mahfouz, Abdel Rahman al-Munif, Salwa Bakr, Ghassan Kanafani, Tawfiq Hakim, and Hanan al-Shaykh.  Discussion topics include: modernity, civil war in Lebanon, gender relations, changing relations between Middle East and West, social transformations after independence, and the plight of the Palestinians.  Presentations and compositions in Arabic are among the requirements. Conducted in Arabic.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arabic.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Counts toward the Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Minor, the Middle East Studies interdisciplinary minor, the International Studies Interdisciplinary Minor (Middle East sections), and Communication Studies Interdisciplinary Minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirements.

Prerequisites & Notes
Arabic 202 or permission of instructor.

ARB 322 - Media in the Arab World

ARB 325 - Contemporary Syrian Television Drama

ARB 326 - Politically Critical Parodies in Syria: Past and Present

Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes

ARB 202 or placement. (Fall)

ARB 327 - Mediating Conflict: Syrian Television Drama and Revolution

Prior to the 2011 Revolution, by subtly deconstructing regime narratives, Syrian political parodies played a vital role in undermining the Asad regime while operating within a framework of government co-optation. Given the regime’s clamp down on oppositional writing, one would expect that Syrian drama would not have survived after the uprising. Yet, the contrary has been true. As the regime has created grand narratives to discount the revolution, drama creators have created storylines that expose hypocrisy and presented various sides of the conflict. In this course we will study miniseries from the commencement of the 2011 uprising, paying special attention to symbols and metaphors that have emerged in drama to serve as socio-political critique.

Satisfies a major requirement for the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies major in Arab Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arab Studies

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

ARB 331 - Arabic Media & Society

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arabic.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Counts toward the Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Minor, the Middle East Studies interdisciplinary minor, the International Studies Interdisciplinary Minor (Middle East sections), and Communication Studies Interdisciplinary Minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
ARB 202 or permission of instructor. (Spring)

ARB 335 - Contemporary Egyptian Society: Changes in Egyptian Society from 1950 to the Present

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arabic.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Counts toward the Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Minor, the Middle East Studies interdisciplinary minor, the International Studies Interdisciplinary Minor (Middle East sections), and Communication Studies Interdisciplinary Minor.
Satisfies a Liberal Studies distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
ARB 202 or permission of instructor.

ARB 340 - Gender and Politics in Contemporary Syrian Literature

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arabic.
Satisfies a major requirement in Gender Studies.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Counts toward the Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor, the Middle East Studies interdisciplinary minor, the International Studies interdisciplinary minor (Middle East sections), and Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric distribution requirements.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Arabic 202 or permission of instructor.

ARB 341 - Gender Studies in the Arab World

The target of this course is to provide an overview of the key topics in the study of gender in the Arab world. This course provides a gendered understanding of prevailing ideologies, social practices, and trends for students interested in Arab politics and culture. Students will be presented with readings ranging from history, sociology, anthropology, political science, and media studies. The course is taught entirely in Arabic.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arab Studies.
Satisfies a major requirement in Gender Studies.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Counts toward the Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor, the Middle East Studies interdisciplinary minor, the International Studies interdisciplinary minor (Middle East sections), and the Communication Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric distribution requirements.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Arabic 202 or permission of instructor.

ARB 342 - Postcolonial Syrian Film

This course will trace the development of postcolonial Syrian film from the 1960s until the present. We will begin with the political critiques of Muhammad al-Maghout and Durayd Lahham in the 1960s and 70s and end with films produced after the uprising in 2011. Topics include gender and family dynamics, political critique, the question of Palestine, and government co-optation of intellectuals. The course is taught entirely in Arabic.

Satisfies a major requirement for Center for Interdisciplinary Studies Arab Studies major.
Satisfies a minor requirement for Arab Studies.
Satisfies the Liberal Arts distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
ARB 202 or permission of the instructor.

ARB 395 - Independent Study for Advanced Students

Advanced study under the direction of the faculty member, who approves the topic, determines meeting times, and decides the means of evaluating the students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

ARB 396 - Independent Study for Advanced Students

Advanced study under the direction of the faculty member, who approves the topic, determines meeting times, and decides the means of evaluating the students’ work.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor needed.

ART 100 - Survey of Western Art

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)

ART 101 - Basic Studio

Introduction through the studio to the work of the artist-tools, way of seeing, methods and media. Emphasizes basic principles of visual organization.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Open to first- and second-year students only.

ART 124 - American Art

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

ART 200 - Greek Art and Architecture (= CLA 141)

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

ART 201 - Basic Drawing

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

ART 202 - Roman Art and Architecture (= CLA 142)

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-17.)

ART 203 - Basic Painting

Provides foundation of painting principles in oil, acrylic and watercolor.  Encourages examination of painting and image making in context of contemporary art practices and in correspondence with intellectual and critical explorations.

Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

ART 204 - Figure Painting

Explores classical and contemporary approaches to figure painting.  Provides foundation of painting principles in oil and acrylic using live models as well as photography and digital manipulations.  Issues related to the body in contemporary art practices, art theory, and contemporary painting practices will be discussed and used as a catalyst for the painting process.

Satisfies a major requirement in Art.
Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-17.)

ART 206 - From Catacombs to Cathedrals

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-17.)

ART 208 - Origins of the Modern in Northern Renaissance Art

When King Charles V ascended the French throne in the mid-fourteenth century, he and his three brothers vied with one another as to who could commission the most elaborate illuminated manuscript, the most highly bejeweled reliquary, or the most sumptuously painted altarpiece to decorate their private chapels in their numerous palaces and castles in Paris and the provinces.  Two hundred and fifty years later that sort of patronage was a distant memory.  Events such as the invention of the printing press and the Protestant Reformation had a profound effect on material culture.  A feudal economy was transformed into a mercantile economy, inaugurating “modern” social structures that remain with us today.  Art changed accordingly:  street vendors hawked cheap woodcuts of patron saints on market days; engravings of peasants behaving boorishly were a little more expensive, but suited the middle class; wealthy merchants from the flourishing port city of Antwerp sought paintings of their peasants at work and play.  We will study the profound changes that took place in the production of art between 1350 and 1580 in northern Europe within the context of the rise of early modern culture.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

ART 209 - Basic Sculpture

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

ART 210 - Renaissance Art in Italy

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2016-17.)

ART 211 - Introduction to Digital Art

ART 211 is an introduction to digital art studio practice with a focus on digital imaging, sound, filmmaking, and the web. Using DSLR cameras and the Adobe Master Collection software, the course builds skills, techniques, and critique of digital art through cross-media experimentation. Readings and presentations discuss current trends in digital culture and key works by digital artists.

Satisfies a major requirement.
Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)